Transcript Environment & Pharmaceuticals

This PowerPoint presentation is
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-GC team
Assessing the environmental risks of man-made drugs
By: Megan Rourk, Alexandra Osetek, Christopher Chiles
Introduction
 Our hypothesis
 Importance
 The BIGGER picture
 Predictions
 Results
 Discussion
 Conclusion
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.usatoday.com/money/_photos/2005/05/31/inside-drug-adslamisil.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/drugs/2005-05-30-drug-adsusat_x.htm&h=180&w=180&sz=9&hl=en&start=14&um=1&tbnid=4X2zVFhwThxFRM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=101&prev=
Main Research Question
 Is the current production and use of man-made
drugs environmentally sustainable?
 Importance:
 Pharmaceutical waste is disposed of in ecosystems
effecting plants, animals, soil, surface and ground water
 Conventional sewage plants do not remove the drug
waste, and there can be many unintended consequences
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Aquatic life
Human drinking water
Agricultural water use
the BIGGER picture
 Unknown magnitude of consequences
 Hard to measure
 Negative Global Implications
 Water soluble pharmaceuticals add unnatural toxicity to
ecological cycles disrupting
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Drinking Water
Soil
Human and Animal Consumption
http://goopstechnologies.com/EarthAS17.j
Routes of Release of Human and
Veterinary Pharmaceuticals
“Environmental Department, University of York”. 2006
<http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/eeem/gsp/esm/images/pharmabig.jpg>
Predictions
 Pharmaceuticals have different effects
on the environment depending on
certain factors:
 Degradability
 Volatility
 Water- solubility
http://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/uploaded_images/Prescription%20Drugs.jpg
Advertising
http://www.futureofthebook.org/itinplace/archives/zoloft.jpg
http://www.drugsbestbuy.com/images/prescription_drugs.jpg
More (problems?)
Side effects that you should report to your prescriber or
health care professional as soon as possible:
•changes in vision such as loss of vision, blurred vision,
eyes being more sensitive to light, or trouble telling the
difference between blue and green objects or objects
having a blue color tinge to them
•difficulty breathing, shortness of breath
•chest pain or palpitations
•prolonged erection (lasting longer than 4 hours)
•skin rash, itching
Side effects that usually do not require medical attention
(report to your prescriber or health care professional if
they continue or are bothersome):
•diarrhea
•dizziness
•flushing
•headache
•indigestion
•nasal congestion
http://www.drugstore.com/pharmacy/drugindex/rxsearch.asp?drug=viagra
Pharmaceuticals
Stella Model
Manuf acture
Drugs
Agriculture
Sewage and Wastewater treatment
Humans
Human Waste
Human Consumption
Liv estock
Liv estock Waste
Manure and Slurry
Drugs
Liv estock Consumption
Soil
Agriculture
Land Use
Human Waste
Water
Sewage and Wastewater treatment
Input
Freshwater
Freshwater
Input of drug resides in aquatic ecosystems
Sewage treatment does not remove all chemicals
Longer half-lives + non-volatile nature
Cannot escape the aquatic realm
Pharmaceuticals affect the pH and the concentration of heavy
metals in the soil
Adversely affect agriculture
•Not possible to track the entire effects of
pharmaceuticals drugs in the biogeochemical cycle
•Proper disposal of pharmaceuticals is highly
encouraged
•Label warnings are necessary
•In general, research and public education of this issue
should be high priority